The Truth
by GottaluvInu
Summary: Mr. Lancer learns Danny's secret. Will he tell everyone else? Or will he become a very useful ally? Rated T for some violence. No swearing though, I hate the swears!
1. Zzzzzzzzzz

**Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever own Danny Phantom. However, this story was my idea, so no stealing!**

Not for the first time, Danny had dozed off in Lancer's class. It was lucky he decided to sit in the back today; otherwise his soft snoring would have reached the teacher's desk.

"Psst! Danny!" whispered Sam, poking him in the side with a pencil. She almost didn't want to wake him, he _did_ deserve the rest, but his grade couldn't afford to drop anymore than it already had.

Danny turned over and slept on.

"Hey, Tucker! Can you try and wake Danny up?" asked Sam.

Tucker, who was sitting on Danny's left, nodded. He leaned over and kicked Danny in the shins, but to no avail. _Geez, how many ghosts did he say escaped the Ghost Zone last night?_ he thought.

Sam poked him again, and this time with results. Danny blinked, and then muttered, "Can't we wait until tomorrow, Skulker?" before he realized where he was. "Oh, hi guys."

"Dude, you look terrible!" said Tucker.

"Thanks, Tuck." growled Danny. He sat up and stretched his back. "Man, I was up until four fighting Skulker and this huge bug thing. I'm wiped."

"We can tell," said Sam.

"Chronicles of Narnia Mr. Fenton! Can't you wait until after class to talk about your social life?" yelled a very annoyed Mr. Lancer.

"Sorry, Mr. Lancer," Danny said hastily. "Won't happen again."

"It had better not, Mr. Fenton. I'm sure your grade won't be able to withstand another beating."

"Yes sir."

Mr. Lancer looked at him suspiciously, and then returned to his ranting about some old dead guy.

Three hours later, it was lunchtime. The three friends sat at their favorite lunch table outside, despite the fact that it was January.

"Ugh, I don't know how I'm going to keep this up," said Danny, accidentally upsetting his milk as he put one elbow on the table, "I think Lancer's starting to think something's up."

Sam quickly replied as Danny wiped the milk off his pants, "If he thought something was up, he'd have told you to stay after class to 'talk' to him." I know, I've had some experiences. She made a face.

Tucker snickered while Danny smiled weakly.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," agreed Danny. "Lancer isn't really one to keep his suspicions to himself."

Just then, Mr. Lancer's voice came over the intercom. "Would  
Danny Fenton please report to my office immediately."

As he repeated the message, Danny sat with his spork full of apple sauce halfway to his mouth, a stunned look on his face.

His friends looked at him with worry as he stood up and began to walk away.

Sam yelled to him in a falsely cheery voice, "It's probably just something about your grades, right?"

Tucker nodded vigorously. Danny looked back over his shoulder and said, "See you next period!"

Danny's thoughts raced as he walked to Lancer's room. _What if he's put two and two together? Could he know? Teachers may act like they don't know anything sometimes, but I know better. But, maybe Sam's right. It's probably nothing to worry about. _

"Hello, Mr. Fenton," Lancer said as Danny walked in the room. "Please, sit down." Danny obliged, and Lancer continued. "Daniel, I wanted to talk to you about your sudden decline in grades.

_Whew! __That could have been bad, _thought Danny. "Umm, well, I've been pretty busy lately."

"Yes. I am aware that most teens think their social life is much more important than school," said Lancer.

Danny tried to agree but-

"But that doesn't seem to be the case with you, Daniel. While you are frequently absent from school, you don't seem to really _want _to miss it. Most of the students that skip school don't care to listen when they _are_ at school. But I've noticed that you really seem to be trying."

Danny sat, speechless. _How can I worm my way out of this one? He's worded it so carefully…_

"Daniel, is there anything you'd like to tell me?"

Danny gulped. "N-no sir. Nothing." _Is it getting hot in here or is it just me? _He thought, pulling at his shirt collar.

Lancer looked at him, disbelief written all over his face. He opened his mouth to say something, but just then, a mechanical-looking ghost flew into the room.

_Crap._

"Danny! R-," Lancer started. But then, "Huh? Danny! Where are you?" He said, frantically searching the room for the boy.

CRASH! The big ghost was pinned against the wall by a much smaller one. One with snow-white hair…

"Call of the Wild! It's Phantom!"

The ghost-boy whipped his head towards Lancer at exactly the wrong moment. BAM! The bigger ghost punched Phantom across the room and into the opposite wall. Now Phantom was pinned!

"I'm going to rest your pelt at the foot of my bed!" screamed Skulker.

**(Yes, It's Skulker. –GottaluvInu)**

"Do you have any idea how disgusting that is?" yelled Phantom. "Ugh!"

"You act as though you're going to get out of this alive," said Skulker. **(I have issues with that comment. How can a ghost die? For all Skulker knows, Danny is all ghost! Oh well.) **He charged up one of his bigger weapons, but while he was doing so, Phantom kicked him on the chin, knocking him down.

"Don't you ever get tired of this?" asked Phantom as he pulled out an object that looked a lot like a thermos. He pushed a button, and a beam came out of it, pulling Skulker in.

"NNOOOOOO!"

Phantom glanced back at Lancer, the sped off. Lancer just stood in his wrecked office, new suspicions bubbling to the surface of his mind…

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**There it is, my friends. The end. No, I'm completely joking! Don't hurt me! Tell me how ya like it so far, but be nice. It's my first-ever fanfic.**


	2. Fenton?

**I really want to thank you all for reading, and for reviewing. I can't BELIEVE I made that mistake on the Skulker thing… I knew that! Grrrrrrrrrrr… I'm leaving it as a memento of my stupidity. On with the story, then! -GottaluvInu**

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"I'm telling you guys, this doesn't look good," said a very worried-looking Danny. The three friends were walking home from school. "I had to go invisible right in his office. To him, I was just, gone."

"Well, he might think you just ran for it," tried Tucker. "How many people just stay put in the middle of a ghost attack anyway? I mean really. I'm usually the first one out of the building when someone says 'GHOST'!" He said, waving his hands over his head like a madman.

_Shhhhhhh!_ Sam motioned. "You could really cause panic doing that. Everyone in Casper High is always a little jumpy when it comes to ghosts."

"Really? Hmmm…" said Tucker, grinning mischievously. "But be logical, Danny." he continued. "Even if he does suspect something, the odds are a million to one that he would actually draw the right conclusion."

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Mr. Lancer was walking around his now destroyed office, picking up any of his belongings that were still intact. He sighed. _There really ought to be some sort of ghost-damage clean up crew._

He thought about the way Danny had just disappeared from right underneath his nose.

_Danny must have run off when that ghost came in and I just wasn't paying attention. Yes, that's it._

When he had salvaged what he could from the mess, he looked up at the dents in either side of his wall. _I hope the school doesn't think I'm going to pay for that…_

Mr. Lancer's thoughts returned to Danny. _But there really is something odd about that boy. There's something he's not telling me, it's obvious._ He walked over to his door and turned the handle-only to find that it was locked. _Oh that's right. I locked it after Danny came…_ His thoughts came to an abrupt halt.

"WAIT A MINUTE!"

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"Hey mom. Hey dad," Danny said as he walked in the door, dropping all his books on the floor. "How's the new ghost weapon coming along?"

"Oh it's coming along great!" exclaimed Jack, waving the small box in the air enthusiastically. A little too enthusiastically, though, causing a bolt to come undone.

"It's called the Fenton Ghoul Grabber, son!" said Jack as he grabbed a nearby wrench to tighten the bolt.

Danny gave an involuntary shudder. "W-what does it do?" he asked, almost not wanting to hear the answer. He knew they were planning to use it on 'Phantom'…

"Well sweetie," said Maddie as Jack struggled with the device. "It captures the ghost, but not before it sends out an ectoplasmic blast so powerful it can put even a ghost into a three week coma!" She grinned fiercely. Danny could have sworn he heard her whisper, _"You're going down Phantom!"_

"That's great mom," Danny said unenthusiastically. _Note to self: Avoid parents at all costs. _"Well, I'm going over to Tuckers, I just wanted to let you know. Um, bye."

"See you, son!" called Jack as Danny walked out. When the door was shut, the phone started to ring. "Jack stared at it for a moment before calling "Jazz, could you get that?"

Jazz, who was sitting on the couch reading a book, glared at her father before walking across the room to pick up the phone. "Hello?"

"Hello, Jasmine," said Mr. Lancer's voice on the other end. "Are your parents at home?"

"Oh, Mr. Lancer!" Jazz said, surprised. "Yes, they're home. Let me go get them."

"Thank you."

Jazz handed the phone to her father and said, "It's Danny's teacher, Mr. Lancer," before returning to the couch to continue reading her book.

"Mr. Fenton, I wanted to talk to you about Daniel."

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Danny was about half way to Tucker's when his ghost sense went off. _Oh, why now? _He flipped his cell phone open and dialed Tucker's number. "Hey, Tuck? I'm going to be a little late…"

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"Well, I'm sure you just didn't see him leave the room," said Jack hurriedly. "It's not like he can just disappear."

"That's the interesting thing, Mr. Fenton," answered Mr. Lancer. "I had lock-" But he didn't get to finish the sentence, because the line went dead. "Mr. Fenton? Hello?" He checked to see if the phone had come unplugged. It hadn't been, so he decided to look outside to see if there was something wrong with the phone lines. What he saw out that window would change his life.

As far as ghost fights go, this one seemed like any other. One ghost would fire an ectoplasmic blast, the other would dodge it, and it would damage city property. Mr. Lancer noticed the charred remains of a telephone line lying on the ground.

"Just give up already. You know you don't have enough power to defeat me!" said the first ghost, who was dressed in a red and white cape and had green skin.

"Yeah, right Plasmius," said the second, who Lancer immediately recognized as Phantom. "If I'm not strong enough to beat you, then why have I done it so many times before?"

Plasmius glared at Phantom, saying, "You only get away because I allow you to!"

Phantom laughed. "Sure, and I'll bet you let me escape from your cloning lab on purpose, too."

Plasmius's eyes filled with hatred and he fired an ectoblast at the unsuspecting Phantom.

Phantom's eyes widened as the ectoblast hit him square in the chest, and with no time to go intangible, he was thrust back into a power line, which crackled with electricity.

Phantom's screams reached all throughout the entire town, and Plasmius watched, a satisfied smirk on his face. Lancer thought he heard him chuckle.

"That will teach you to mouth off to me, Danny," he said as he flew away.

Lancer's eyes widened. _Since when has this ghost been on first-name terms with Phantom?_

The power line snapped, and Phantom fell face first to the ground. Two white rings formed around his waist, traveling over his body. When they disappeared, Phantom was gone. In his place lay a boy in a white t-shirt and jeans…

Lancer jumped up. He just had to be sure. Without bothering to put shoes on, he raced outside and crouched down beside the boy, turning him over.

Danny Fenton opened his eyes slowly. He blinked, trying to clear his vision. He looked down at his chest, which was bleeding freely. He groaned and turned on his side, only to see Lancer kneeling next to him, a look of shock on his face. Danny gasped in horror before the darkness overcame him.

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**You like? I do, but that's just me. What's going to happen next? I left it cliffy to keep you guessing. Review!**


	3. Spill it!

**Cliffy endings are my favorite thing to do, so I'm sorry to anyone who didn't like that too much. (Ha ha ha! Fun for writers, bad for readers!) Again, thanks for the reviews! Oh, and sorry it took so long, I fell behind on my homework a little (cough) so I had to catch up…**

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Only one thought was able to get to Danny's mind before the darkness: _Who is he going to tell?_

Then, as he would later recount to his friends, he was hit with a swarm of his memories, some forgotten, some fresh in his mind. They passed quickly, so that Danny barely had time to register what he was seeing…

_He was staggering out of the ghost portal, green eyes glowing before he collapsed to the ground. He was watching his future self destroy Amity Park. He was walking into Casper High for the first time, and was immediately shoved into his locker by Dash. He was on the edge of a building, staring at Sam after being hit with Ember's 'love song'…_

Then as suddenly as these memories had appeared, they vanished. Danny felt himself slip back into consciousness. He opened his eyes to find that he was lying on his bed. Sitting in a chair on the left side of him was a sleeping Jazz.

Jazz blinked. Sitting up straight, she realized Danny was looking at her. "Oh! You're awake!" she stated. She got up and stepped over to the bed. "How do you feel?"

"Like I was zapped with a power line," he said sardonically. "How long was I out?"

"Not too long, actually," Jazz answered. "About an hour. Good, thing, too. Any longer and mom and dad would have been finished with their experiment in the basement."

"How did I get here, anyway?"

Jazz hesitated. "Well, Mr. Lancer brought you here. He bandaged you up, pretty well, too." Danny pulled up his shirt to see.

"Well, never knew he could do medical stuff. Don't know why it never occurred to me, though. He's definitely strict enough to be a doctor." Danny mused.

Jazz stayed serious. "Danny, he knows about -"

" I know he knows my secret," interrupted Danny. "What did he say about it, though?"

She looked surprised momentarily, then shrugged. "He said he wanted to meet you in his office tomorrow morning. But he didn't say anything to our parents about it."

_Why would he keep it from my parents? _Danny wondered. _Not that I'm complaining or anything... _

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The next day, Danny, Sam, and Tucker were on their way to school.

"How do you think he's going to react?" Tucker questioned. "I mean, now that he's probably gotten over the shock."

"I'm going to have to find out for myself," answered Danny. "As long as he doesn't whip out an ecto-gun when I walk into the room, I'm pretty much okay with this."

Sam and Tucker stared at him in disbelief.

Sam was the first to say something. "Are you insane, Danny? How is this okay? Lancer could tell anyone! What if he blackmails you or something?"

Danny sighed. "You're overreacting, Sam. I'm sure he wouldn't blackmail me. I mean, what's he going to get out of a fourteen-year old, anyway? A piece of gum and three bucks?"

Sam pondered this for a moment, then said, "Well, I think you should be prepared for the worst." _I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if anything happened to you…_

"Don't worry, guys. I'll be fine," said Danny as they arrived at the school. "Well, see you guys later, then!" He left for Mr. Lancer's room.

Sam and Tucker looked at each other as they waved their friend good-bye, feeling anxious despite his reassurances.

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"Hello, Mr. Fenton," said Mr. Lancer as Danny walked into the room.

"Uh, hello," Danny answered weakly as he sat down in the chair opposite Mr. Lancer. Now that he was here, he didn't feel quite as confident as he did when he was talking with Sam.

"……"

They sat in an awkward silence, Lancer trying to find a way to start the conversation, Danny shifting nervously in his seat.

Mr. Lancer finally broke the silence. "So, how did, uh well, I mean, why, er…" He stumbled over the words so they came out all wrong. Danny was surprised, he had never heard the teacher at a loss for words before.

Mr. Lancer exhaled noisily. "What I mean to say is, how did, well, you know, _this_ happen?" He indicated the dented walls on either side of him.

"You mean, how did I, _get_ my powers?" Danny asked, looking a little pale.

"Yes," Lancer said, nodding. "For lack of a better word, your 'powers'."

Danny looked down for a moment, deep in thought. He looked up and replied, "I don't really know how. I know when I got them and where I got them, but I don't know why. It's…complicated."

"Just tell me what you know."

"Hmmm." Danny said as he nodded. "Well, my parents have this ghost portal thing that they invented. When they first built it, it didn't work, so they just gave up on it. But then Sam, Tucker, and me decided to check it out. Sam convinced me to go inside just to see what it looked like. Since it wasn't supposed to work, I didn't think there was any harm in it."

Danny paused. Mr. Lancer looked away from his twiddling thumbs to look at Danny. The boy was staring at his feet, so Lancer couldn't see the expression on his face.

Danny continued. "But I was wrong. When I walked into that portal, it was kind of dark. I put my hand on the wall to make sure I didn't trip over something, and my hand hit a button. After that, I remember a burning sensation all over my body, like I was on fire."

He shuddered. Lancer felt a pang of sympathy for him as he was lost in the memory.

"Well," Danny persisted. "The last thing I remember before blacking out was walking out of the portal and seeing the shocked looks on Sam and Tucker's faces. When I woke up later, I don't know how much later, but I was still in the lab, I realized something was different. Sam was trying to say something, but I couldn't make it out. It sounded all muffled. I looked down at my hands and realized, _they were glowing. _I rushed over to a nearby mirror and looked at my reflection, and well," he changed into his ghost form. "I looked like this."

Lancer was more than a little shocked to see small, withdrawn Danny Fenton transform into the confident ghost boy who was Danny Phantom. Though he now knew about Danny's alter ego, it would still take some getting used to. "Why haven't you told your parents about this? It seems to me that they would be the best people to go to, seeing as they study ghosts as a profession."

Danny looked down. "I-I'm… well, I didn't want them to… what if they don't accept me for what I am?" he managed to get out.

Lancer, who was expecting something along these lines, quickly replied, "Daniel, your friends accepted you, did they not? Why wouldn't your parents do the same?"

Danny answered so softly that Lancer had to lean forward to hear what he said next. "Well, they think that Phantom is Amity Park's number one enemy. They want to capture me and 'tear me apart molecule by molecule'."

Lancer sighed. _Well, I'm not getting into these 'family matters.' I'll let him deal with that on his own._

After a few moments of silence, Danny stood and said, "Well, I'd better go get my stuff for first period." He was halfway to the door when Lancer stopped him.

"Daniel. Wait a moment."

Danny turned. "Yeah?"

Lancer looked uncomfortable. "I just wanted to say that, I'm…sorry. For pushing you so hard in my class. I thought you were just a lazy student, and that you needed that extra shove, you know? Turns out you do a whole lot more work than most students around here do!" he finished, letting out a feeble sort of a chuckle.

_Except maybe Valerie._ "It's alright, Mr. Lancer." Danny answered. "I'm sure that if I was a teacher with a student who didn't do his work, I would have done the same." He left.

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Sam and Tucker of course, were waiting just outside the door.

"How'd it go?" Sam asked.

"He kinda just wanted to know how I got my ghost powers in the first place." Danny answered. "I mean, I'm like a scientific impossibility. I'd be curious too. In fact, I am. How am I a ghost if I'm still alive?" He pondered this as he was walking.

He was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he walked straight into the last person he wanted to see:(apart from Vlad…) Dash Baxter.

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**Okay, I know you are all going to hate me for another dumb ending, but I really wanted to get 'er posted. And I have this giant writer's block. It'll take me forever to chisel through it!**

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**I am the writer's block...**

**FEAR ME!**


	4. Freak?

For those of you who read my profile, this (Well, I say it like 'dees' cuz I'm cool that way.) is for you! **(About time you updated, baka! Oh, and for the slow-witted, coughcoughGottaluvInucough, baka means stupid or idiot.) **Hey, InuluvGotta! That was not kind! Sooooo, if you don't have any idea what that's supposed to mean, then read my profile, fools! Just kidding! You guys are all great readers/writers!

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"Oof!" Danny grunted as he ran into the taller, rather broader boy. He looked up in horror. "Uh, sorry about that, Dash!"

Dash glowered at him. "I just cleaned this jacket, and now it's got geek germs all over it, Fentoad! I'm going to wail on you so hard, it'll wake up your doctor!" He grabbed the front of Danny's shirt, pulling him off the ground.

_Ugh, I hate it when this happens._ "Dash, can't you just leave me alone for once?' Danny shouted, annoyance all but detectable in his voice.

Dash stood with his fist pulled back; surprised that Danny had actually stuck up for himself for once. He quickly recovered, though. "Yeah, right, Fenturd. Like I'd ever do what you tell me to."

_Oh, like the time we had to fight off Youngblood and Ember when they kidnapped all of our parents? _Danny wanted to say. But instead, he kept quiet.

Dash wanted Danny to be frustrated for his 'forgetting' the Ops Center incident, but his lack of reaction angered Dash further. Dash threw Danny to the ground, and Danny was pretty sure he heard something crack. "You're such a loser, Fenton. You're not even worth my time." He began to walk away.

Danny spoke in such a low voice that it was almost impossible to hear him.

"Don't…call…me…a loser…" He said through clenched teeth.

Dash looked back. "What'd you say, loser?"

"DON'T CALL ME A LOSER!" screamed Danny, losing control and leaping towards Dash, punching him as hard as he could in the stomach.

Dash stood stunned for a moment, it wasn't like the blow had hurt all that badly, it was just the fact that _Fenton, _the wimpy loser, had actually thrown a punch at him…

"You're dead meat, Fenton!"

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Mr. Lancer walked out of his office, whistling what sounded like "Old Man Tucker", which Tucker, (who was watching the fight, cheering Danny on) thoroughly resented.

Lancer froze at the scene before him.

Dash and Danny stood before him, frozen in fighting stances. Danny had a bloody nose as well as a few bruises on his jaw, while Dash was sporting a black eye. _Lucky I came out before it got really ugly._

"Baxter! Fenton! What is the meaning of this?" Lancer shouted.

"Fenton started it, sir!" answered Dash before Danny could say anything.

"But-what? I-" Danny tried to say something, but Lancer silenced him with a glare.

"Mr. Fenton, I would like you to come back into my office. Now," he said dangerously.

Danny was furious. Even now, when Lancer knew his secret, he still didn't believe him when he tried to tell the truth! Why didn't Lancer ever trust him? Where was the justice in this?

Danny followed Mr. Lancer back into the room. "Mr. Lancer, I swear, I didn't start it."

"That may be true. But seeing as you participated in the fight, I don't see why I shouldn't punish you, Daniel," said Mr. Lancer. "I expected better of you!"

"What do you mean?" Danny asked, his confusion breaking through his angry expression.

Mr. Lancer was fuming. "I never would have thought you would do something like this. I can't believe this."

_Boy is he mad. What did I do?_ Aloud he said,"What? But I didn't…Dash started it, and he-"

"Doesn't have freakish powers to aid him in fights, Mr. Fenton!" interrupted Mr. Lancer, voice rising as he really lost his temper.

"…F-freakish?" Danny asked softly, looking hurt. His expression quickly shifted from an injured look to one of anger and his eyes flashed a dangerous green. _Freakish, huh? Well, if that's how he feels, then why do I even bother? _Danny jumped to his feet and went intangible to leave the room via the floor, glaring at Mr. Lancer as he left.

"Wait!" cried Mr. Lancer, realizing his mistake. "That's not what I meant at all, Daniel! Stop!"

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(A/N: Do you know how ticked I'd be if somebody called me freakish? **(Even if it's true…) **Okay, InuluvGotta. You asked for it! Bangs herself on the head, hears a dull thud, followed by a loud **Ouch!** Remember, I think Lancer is a great guy, but everyone loses his or her temper once in awhile, right? Anyway…)

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Danny was fuming. No way he was going back to school. No way. He couldn't _believe _Lancer, whom he had just learned to trust minutes before, would say something like that to him.

_Freakish. _"Heh," he laughed vacantly. _I guess that's all I am to anyone, anyway. Don't know why I was so surprised, actually._

He looked down from the top of the building where he was perched. Unbidden thoughts entered his mind as he watched the ant-like people below scurry about, not noticing him.

_**All** those people down there think you are a freak. Because you are. Nobody cares what someone like you thinks. You're just a loser who doesn't fit in with anyone. Not as a human before the accident, not as a ghost because you aren't dead (Right?), certainly not as a halfa now._

A tear rolled down his face without his noticing it. He felt like the world had turned on him, and right when he needed it the very most. He rested his face in his hands, continuing to stare out on the people below. _They don't know what its like to be me. Nobody knows. Vlad doesn't even know, because he took the easy way out and became a villain. He **wants** all those people to fear him._

After what felt like an eternity, Danny stood and wiped his face, finally realizing the tear that hung there. Then out of nowhere, his ghost sense went off. _Good. I need something to do until school is over…_

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Jazz was sitting in her trigonometry class in third period when a voice came over the intercom. "Would Jasmine Fenton please report to Mr. Lancer's office? Again, would Jasmine Fenton please report to Mr. Lancer's office?"

_Oh, come on. Lancer already talked to Danny, what does he want with me? _Jazz asked the teacher if she had to go. The other students looked over at her incredulously. Who didn't want an excuse to skip a trig class? The teacher recommended that she go, so Jazz sighed, picked up her things, and headed to Lancer's office.

Jazz walked into the room to find an anxious-looking Mr. Lancer sitting at his desk. "What's wrong, Mr. Lancer?" she asked as she sat down.

"Well, Jasmine, it isn't a particularly simple thing for me to say." he answered. Jazz couldn't help but notice that he looked faintly ashamed of himself.

"I believe I may have said something to upset your brother." He shook his head. "No, I _did_ say something that upset your brother." He looked up, as though waiting for Jazz to ask something.

She complied. "What did you say?"

He shifted in his seat.

_I've never seen a teacher look so uncomfortable before…_

"Well, he was caught fighting with Dash Baxter this morning, " he started. "This was right after our discussion in my office. I inferred that he had used his ghost powers to gain an unfair advantage over Mr. Baxter. Clearly, I was more concerned about Dash's wellbeing than Danny's."

"But Mr. Lancer!" gasped Jazz. "Danny would never do that to a fellow student, no matter how angry he was!"

Lancer nodded. "I realize that now. But having just figuring out what he was capable of, I naturally assumed the worst." His voice was filled with self-disgust. "So I lost my temper, and essentially told him that he was a freak."

Jazz gaped at him, lost for words.

Mr. Lancer stared at his feet, unable to meet the bemused teen's eyes.

"Where is he?" Jazz asked severely after taking several deep breaths.

"I-I'm not sure. He left after…" he stopped, and then buried his face in his hands.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner, Mr. Lancer?" Jazz couldn't keep the hostility out of her voice.

"I was, and still am, ashamed," he said softy, wincing at the venom in her words, but knowing he deserved it. Then, even more softly, he said, "I'm so sorry, Jasmine."

Jazz jumped out of her seat and left the room without another remark.

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"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" screamed Danny as he was thrown back by a large ectoblast. _Man, this new ghost is pretty tough._

"You cannot defeat me!" said the ghost, a girl he supposed, by the way she spoke. It was hard to tell, seeing as she was wearing a blue cloak that covered her entire being. "You are too weak! Give up!" She pulled ecto-boosted shirkins (ninja stars) from her cloak and pelted Danny with them.

Danny knew the real reason for his losing. His heart wasn't in the fight, and he was being reckless. He was already hurt pretty badly; he had a cut along his face, extending from cheekbone to bruised jaw, the gash on his chest, which had just begun to heal, had opened up again. Not to mention all the tiny, paper cut-like slashes the shirkins were causing.

Danny gasped as he realized that all the wounds by the shirkins made were suddenly widening, more than doubling the throbbing ache. His blood dripped onto the ground, pooling at his feet. He vaguely wondered whether ghosts could lose too much blood…

Apparently, they could. At any rate, half-ghosts could. Danny started to get dizzy, and the ghost before him was blurred from his vision. The last thing he remembered was a dimly recognizable voice calling his name, but he was too drained to consider who it might be.

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Wah ha ha ha ha! I am sooooo evil! I love cliffies, how ever annoying they are! Kay, I'm going to say this again: Lancer is great; he just lost his temper, like anybody would. But still, that was harsh. Poor Danny! Didn't you just want to go over and hug him? I did. But then, I'm insane. …Hey, doesn't InuluvGotta usually agree when I say something like that? Maybe I knocked her out! Oh, no! Who's going to help me with the big words now?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

(Beware!)

I heart the box ghost!


	5. Ouchies

Hi, again! Sorry I took like, an eternity to update, but I had to wait until InuluvGotta woke up so she could help me. She's my lifeline! (**Mental people mumblegrumble…) **Oh, today I'm going to review some of your reviews:

**HiddenAuthor:** Did I ever tell you that I LOVE your stories? Such voice! Well, I just did, so…you're awesome!

**Opal eyes/Rakahn:** Yeah…I really stink at spelling words in other languages. (I'm failing in French because of it!) And plus, I have never seen that word in writing before. Thanks, though. I need to know when I look like a total jack…rabbit. Uh…Boing!

**SquirrelGirl13:** You review a lot! I love you! Um, actually, not really. Cuz Numero uno: I don't even _know _you, and Numero dos: I am not into girls. That'd be…more than disgusting. Yeah. But…yep. You're cool. Heh, I liked the Irobot thing. I love that movie!

To all y'all whose review I didn't pick out explicitly: You guys are great, I just didn't want to go on for pages like _some_ people do with these. I'm glad you all liked my 'writer's block…'

Oh, and there is a teeny wittle bit of fluff in this chapter, but it's _teensy weensy._ Like, one paragraph. Hee. I'm so evil, at least to the Danny/Sam lovers.

Cheers!

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Jazz ran up just as Danny fell to the street in human form. "Danny!"

Jazz ran to Danny's side; her rage intensifying as her big sister intuition kicked in.

Extraordinarily, the ghost seemed to vanish as Jazz ran.

_Mr. Lancer's to blame for this. He's the one who upset Danny. What sort of cruel person would do this to my brother, the one who determinedly saves this town from destruction? Mr. Lancer knows that now, too! Danny's only fourteen; no one should have to go through this much so young, it's not fair!_

Jazz pulled her brother onto her lap, resting his head between her knees. Sighing, she examined his scratches. They were pretty deep, so she would need to bandage them up quickly. She had always been weak-stomached; she got nauseous at the sight of blood. When she thought about it later on, she realized the only thing keeping her from losing her lunch were her worries about Danny's well being.

Pulling out her first aid kit that she always kept handy, Jazz began.

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Later, Tucker and Sam sat at their computers at home. They were chatting with each other on 'Doomed'.

"Have you seen Danny since the fight this morning?" Tucker wrote. "He wasn't in gym."

"No," Sam answered. "He wasn't in English, and neither was Lancer. D'you think Lancer wanted to talk to Danny some more and- I don't know. Got him out of school?"

"Yeah, maybe." Tucker 'sounded' uneasy.

Sam tried again, familiar enough with Tucker to know that when he said 'maybe', he meant 'yeah, right'. "If Lancer is missing too, then that would probably mean that he's with Danny, right?" Tucker couldn't know that as she wrote, her hand clenched the desk in worry, knuckles white.

"Maybe I should call him."

"What?! You mean you haven't called him already?"

"Well, I thought that if he didn't text me to tell me where he was, and wasn't online after school, something must be wrong." Tucker blushed furiously, glad that they weren't using a video I.M. like they usually did.

"I thought you just couldn't reach him. Arghhh! You are so DUMB sometimes, Tucker!" Sam was secretly relieved, but liked to taunt Tucker too much to express it.

Sam swiftly tapped out her next message. "I'll call him. TTYL."

"Bye."

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Jazz heaved an inert Danny over the front steps and quietly opened the door. She wasn't sure whether her parents would be home or not, so she listened attentively. Hearing nothing, she made her way across the threshold. As she approached the stairs, she heard a banging noise from beneath her feet followed by muted yells of excitement.

"What do you know? Toothpaste _**does** _make a good clean-up solution for ectoplasm!" came the delighted voice of Jack Fenton.

Jazz's heart skipped a beat. _They're home! They can't see Danny like this; it'll raise too many questions. _Sprinting as silently as she possibly could with her brother in her arms, Jazz ran into Danny's room, closing the door behind her. She realized, too late, that she shut it harder than she had intended. She strained to hear if her parents had heard anything.

"Did you hear that?" asked Maddie.

"What?" said Jack distractedly.

"Hmm. I just thought I heard-never mind. It's nothing."

Jazz breathed a sigh of relief. Setting Danny on his bed, she left to her room. She had decided that it would be better if she weren't in Danny's room, just in case her parents came up. She and Danny weren't supposed to be as close as they really were.

When he woke up, she'd be a wall's width away.

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Sam dialed Danny's familiar number. Almost immediately, someone picked it up on the other end.

"Hello?" Jazz's voice whispered.

"Oh, hey Jazz. Danny there?"

"Yeah, but… he's not really a-available." Jazz whispered. "Do you want me to call you back when he's… uh, not busy anymore?"

"Jazz, what's going on?" Sam inquired. "Why are you whispering?"

Jazz paused. "It would probably easier if you came over yourself. But I'll call you when it's safe, I don't want my parents to know." The line went dead.

Okay, that was really weird. Thought Sam. What did she mean 'when it's safe"? Is everyone trying to tick me off today?

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Several hours later, near six, Jack and Maddie prepared to leave for a date. Jazz stood, revolted as her parents made pitiful attempts at romantic prattle, sounding like newlyweds. _They _were happy, though, so she didn't react. (Not out loud, anyway.)

Jazz waved them out of the house, telling them to take their time as they climbed into the Fenton A.V. With a loud screech of the tires and a whiff of burning rubber, they were gone. Jazz hurriedly ran back inside and dialed Sam's number. For a moment, she contemplated whether to call Tucker, but decided against it. (_She_ wasn't ignorant to Sam's crush on Danny…)

"Hello?" It was Sam who answered, luckily. Jazz knew how edgy Sam's parents could be when it came to her family.

"Hello Sam." Jazz answered, relived. "I just wanted to let you know that you can come over now. My parents are gone."

"Oh, good! See you in a few!" Before Jazz hung up, she distinctly heard Sam's parents arguing with her when she told them where she was going. Chuckling slightly, thinking _How predictable, _Jazz walked upstairs to check on Danny.

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Danny was still out when Sam arrived. They both sat in his room while Jazz told her what happened, starting with Lancer. Sam stared at Danny, her expression fixed as Jazz spoke.

When she had finished at last, Sam stood from her place on the floor and approached Danny's side.

Thoughts similar to what Jazz was thinking when she had found Danny lying unconscious in the street crossed Sam's mind, and yet her thoughts were so…different somehow. They held the same concern, the same sympathy, but there was something more than sisterly trepidation.

Sam's deep meditation was abruptly halted as Danny quivered and moaned piteously. Jazz jumped to her feet just as he opened his eyes gradually, wincing at the pain his consciousness brought.

"Whoa. Head rush," he said softly as he tried to sit up.

Jazz, the soon-to-be brain surgeon, was by his side so quickly; you could have sworn she flew. "Danny! Are you okay? Do you feel dizzy? You lost a lot of blood and-"

Danny cut her off with a wave of his hand. _Duh. _"Yeah, I'm fine Jazz." He looked to the right of Jazz and realized Sam was there. He straightened up a little, looking uncomfortable.She noticed and smiled slightly.

"Hey Danny. Took you long enough. You 'almost' had us worried," she said, gesturing at Jazz, then pointing to herself.

Danny gave a feeble laugh.

"Do you feel fit enough to get up?" asked Jazz worryingly. "I don't want to have to explain to mom and dad why you're in bed so early."

Danny stood tentatively, shifting his weight from foot to foot. "I think I'll be fine if I don't have to stand for very long." As if to prove a point, his leg gave way beneath him and he fell back onto his bed.

Jazz and Sam leaned forward, ready to help, but he pushed them back. "I'm fine, quit worrying."

Jazz looked skeptical, but Sam simply looked embarrassed.

Trying to avoid Jazz's eyes, Danny looked down at his bloodstained clothes. "Oh." He said, trying to change the subject. "I _might _need to get rid of these. Kind of a giveaway, huh?" He looked up at the two girls. "Uh, do you mind?"

_No… _Sam thought as she looked down at Danny's shirt. She shook her head viciously, clearing the thought. Pulling herself together, she left the room before answering.

"See you in a while."

"Right," said Jazz. "See you in a few."

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All right. So it's not going so hot. I lost my sense of…well, storyboard, so I'm playing it by ear. Sorry. And I really didn't mean to just drop it off, but... this one's kinda dead for a while. Sorry again.

Oh, I'm going to start a new story, in case you're interested… Lots of luv!


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